2012 F1 season review

Sebastian Vettel was made to fight harder for his third world championship victory than he was for the first two. The performance advantage he enjoyed throughout much of 2011 was gone.

Vettel hit a purple patch late in the season with four wins on the trot as Red Bull finally hit the sweet spot with the RB8. Even this was fleeting as McLaren asserted themselves once more before the season ended, and the RB8 was not the quickest car on average throughout the season.

But he took the opportunity to rise from the battle for second place and seize the lead of the championship. After that he narrowly prevailed in a nailbiting championship showdown, soaking up immense pressure from Fernando Alonso over the last three rounds.

As the season began the name of the game for Vettel was getting the best he could out of a car that was no longer the pace setter. He achieved this admirably in Australia, passing Rosberg in fine style early on and reaching the podium. But he faltered in Malaysia where another podium looked possible had he taken a little more caution lapping Narain Karthikeyan (who was penalised for the contact).

Beat team mate in qualifying

12/20

Beat team mate in race

11/17

Races finished

19/20

Laps spent ahead of team mate

865/1103

Anxious to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of performance, Vettel experimented with an earlier exhaust layout in China. But unusually he failed to reach Q3 and in a repeat of last year found himself slipping back late in the race, ending up fifth.

It looked like a return to business as usual, 2011-style when he won round four from pole position, coolly rebuffing an attack from Kimi Raikkonen. But Red Bull were off the pace in Spain and Vettel was outdone by Webber in Monaco.

Consecutive pole positions in Canada and Britain showed the team were on the right track. But they misread the tyre situation in Canada and had to make a late pit stop, though this at least ensured he finish ahead of Alonso.

In Valencia he was in crushing form until his alternator failed. That was a major blow to Vettel’s championship hopes, sending a 32-point swing in Alonso’s favour.

He took more than half of that back with his best drive of the season in a race he didn’t win. Alonso’s elimination in the first-lap crash at the Belgian Grand Prix gave Vettel an opportunity, but he was only 12th at the restart.

Vettel found it difficult to overtake other cars on Spa’s long straights due to his car’s poor straight line speed. But his commitment through the high-speed Blanchimont allowed him to make several passes into the chicane – including on his own team mate, and he rose from the field to take a valuable second.

Questions over Vettel’s capacity for racecraft are increasingly a thing of the past thanks to races like this and his recovery drives in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

However he could have avoided penalties in Germany and Italy for errors while attacking and defending position respectively. His correct decision to cede position back to Romain Grosjean in Abu Dhabi having passed him with all four wheels off the track showed he was paying attention.

Vettel took some time to get the car to his liking in 2012 and did not always get the best out of what he had in the early part of the season. But by the final leg of the championship he was back in his comfort zone and it seemed nothing could put him off his stride.

His battling performances after being sent to the back of the grid in Abu Dhabi and knocked into a spin in Brazil demonstrated the speed, racecraft and rock-solid mental resilience of a triple-champion.

What F1 Fanatic readers said about Vettel

Here’s what F1 Fanatic readers had to say about Sebastian Vettel:

Vettel truly deserved his third title. He battled with a car that wasn?óÔéĽÔäót to his liking at the start, and score important points.

When the car was to his liking, he dominated. When events conspired against him he put in awe inspiring drives in both Abu Dhabi and Brazil, under immense pressure. He battled for positions in many races, and dismissed the view that he wasn?óÔéĽÔäót a real racer.

Vettel still has some maturing to do, with frustration clouding his judgement in a few races. The fact that he is still developing as a racing driver must be a sobering thought to his rivals.@Colossal-Squid

I think many people, when comparing the Red Bull to the Ferrari, simply assume that the Red Bull is a brilliant car (Newey = genius, so RB8 = genius) and because Alonso and Domenicali said at testing that the Ferrari is awful, they assume the Ferrari is awful. Think what you want, but for sure Vettel?óÔéĽÔäós performance this year is highly underrated by many.@Andae23

Vettel had some stonking races this year, and proved his mettle more than once. Alonso was just up against it in worse machinery, that?óÔéĽÔäós pretty much all the difference.@Hairs

Notes on how the rankings are produced

The F1 Fanatic Driver Rankings are my personal view on how the drivers performed across the entire season. Drivers such as Jerome D’Ambrosio who only competed in a small part of the season are not included.

A selection of F1 Fanatic readers’ views appear alongside the rankings. The full rankings will be published in seven parts, with individual articles for the top five drivers, after which there will be a vote for Driver of the Year.

Over to you

What’s your view on Sebastian Vettel’s third consecutive championship victory? Have your say in the comments.

216 comments on 2012 F1 Driver Rankings #3: Sebastian Vettel

I agree with this ranking, to be frank Keith has always ranked drivers from the top drawer very accurately throughout the whole season. Vettel drove immaculately throughout the middle and end part of the season but where was he at the start? That’s right not too close to the front of the grid.

Not sure what you mean by “not too close to the front of the grid”. If you mean his qualifying position, it was a bit poor. But in Alonos’s case his poor qualifying position seems to be regarded as an actual point in his favor, so I don’t see why it’s held against Vettel.

In you mean his race performances, after five races Vettel was leading the WDC standings. He must have been doing something right.

The 1 stat I look for in the year when trying to rank who drove better in a season, is just how often drivers beat their team mates

That’s a meaningless statistic for many reasons. It assumes that the gap in skill between drivers and their teammates is roughly equal across teams, which is obviously not the case. It also does not take into account team orders – over the last several races Massa looked to have the beating of Alonso, by quite a margin in some cases. But he dutifully allowed Alonso to finish ahead of him to maximize his points total.

It was just 2 races, which would still mean better percentage then the others. I agree this not the most accurante thing and shouldn’t be used soley to determine who drove how well, but just pointing out that Massa in reality only two times gave position to Alonso. (USA and Brasil)

And I found it quite suspicious that when Ferrari/Alonso actually needed Massa, or rather when Massa would no longer harm Alonso’s chances, Massa ‘suddenly’ rediscovered his form and even started beating Alonso in outright pace.

I’d love to hear from Newey which driver he prefers. He has said many, many times how hard worker and technical Vettel is and his ability to tell exactly what he needs from the car. Many people believe a world champion is only about how they perform in the track.
Alonso is more aggressive, Hamilton may be faster (in 1 lap, specially). Vettel is both and work better and harder, it seems.

I think you can find the same things being said about Alonso, even way back in 2005 or 2006. There was some comment from James Allen or Ted Kravitz about it and about how McLaren’s practices might differ from Renault’s and that it could be slightly frustrating for Alonso not being able to work as fast with engineers and be involved with them as he used to be in Renault.

Ted Kravitz? The man convinced Button would have won Monza 2011 if not for being stuck behind Schumacher for 20 laps? That Ted Kravitz?
The Ted Kravitz who always tries to take a dib at Vettel’s on or off track performance?

I love this. Its one of the great pub debates of the land. Sebastian Vettel: benchmark or beneficiary? OK, I’m getting off the fence. I see no legendary qualities in Sebastian Vettel. For me, I have always stuck with the concept that a great driver is a driver that does well in a poor car, no matter what the balance. You may say, look at Monza 2008, and yes he did do well in a midfield car, but a car that was good in the wet because of its tendency to over-heat its tyres in dry. And Vettel had the best car in ’09, ’10 and ’11, and even though the McLaren was faster this year, it was so unreliable Lewis lost two victories, and probably a further two to operational issues and contact in Brazil.

Also, in manner comparable to Button and Massa, his performance falls off the cliff when his preferred balance isn’t there. In the first half of the season Webber fundamentally beat Vettel, because it seems that Vettel lacks that versatility that makes Alonso and Hamilton, in my view, the finest drivers in the world.

Now personally I don’t subscribe to this view that Vettel can’t race. He is fantastically accurate and sometimes very aggressive wheel-to-wheel racing, but is lacking that confident intensity that enables Button, Alonso and Hamilton to swarm all over the car ahead overwhelm them and pass them. Actually I would compare his racing style to Raikkonen’s; sometimes spectacular, always accurate, but also hesitantly intelligent. Actually Vettel and Raikkonen are hugely similar in driving style. Both have great race pace, both are accurate racers, both are great on their tyres, both are clean in the wet and both can control a race from the front comfortably and calmly. Vettel wipes the floor with Raikkonen in qualifying though, which gives him great grid positions, and also the undesirable statistic of never winning from outside of the top 3 on the grid.

Don’t get me wrong, when I say there’s nothing legendary about Vettel I’m not doing him down to Raikkonen/Button/Rosberg levels, he’s still one of the “big three”, I just think that the greater versatility of Alonso and Hamilton put them that one step ahead. I’m also not saying that Vettel will never be legendary, because most of these phenomenal feats performed by my personal top driver, Alonso, are as a result of his huge experience, which will come to the tender 25 year old in time. So maybe, at the end of his career Vettel will be able to raise that finger confident in the knowledge that he is a legend of Formula 1 and the equals of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, but he has a way to go yet.

You may say, look at Monza 2008, and yes he did do well in a midfield car, but a car that was good in the wet because of its tendency to over-heat its tyres in dry.

And what excuse do you use for his excellent dry performances in that same Torro Rosso? Wait, let me guess; “It was a Newey car”.

And Vettel had the best car in â€™09

Did he? Did he really? Red Bull started the season slower than Brawn. Then they gained the upper hand. But along with their succes came a resurgent McLaren who were just as quick if not quicker. And then there were plenty of races where the Brawn was quick(er) as well. Valencia and Monza for instance. Button hit the ground running but lost form halfway through the season. When Button wasn’t scoring Barrichello was. And good points I might add.

In the first half of the season Webber fundamentally beat Vettel

Newsflash, fundamentally now means three times out of 10!!
So Massa fundamentally beat Alonso in the second half of the season?

and also the undesirable statistic of never winning from outside of the top 3 on the grid.

As opposed to Hamiltons amazing statistic of never having won from outside the top 4. Because that 1 place makes all the difference.

OK, you asked for it…
1. The STR3 was very solid car, which explains Vettel’s fourth place in Shanghai, but also explains why Bourdais showed flashes of pace. Its nothing to do with with fact that it was “a Newey car”, it was just a good package, and could be mentioned in the same sentence as the Renault R28, or mentioned in the same sentence as the McLaren MP4-23 in the wet.
2. I knew I’d get picked up on this. When I say Vettel had the fastest car in 2009, I mean the raw pace at the final races. Now its right that you query that, because Hamilton was on pole in Abu Dhabi, but remember you can read less into qualifying in 2009 due to the fuel loads. Also the MP4-24 was very track specific and struggled with high speed corners, explaining Hamilton’s poles at the point-and-squirt tracks like Valencia, Monza, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, and you may say that Hamilton won at “Red Bull tracks” in 2009; but remember Vettel cocked up qualifying at both Hungary and Singapore. I would imagine that the average percentage deficit to pole position of the Red Bull was the smallest of any ’09 chassis.
3. Before the German Grand Prix this year, Webber had more wins, more points and had beaten Vettel in qualifying in 5/9 races.That’s pretty fundamental for me.
4. What I was illustrating with that statistic is that Vettel seldom has to fight for his wins. How many Vettel wins can you think of when he was under real pressure? I got Spain ’11, Monaco ’11 and Bahrain ’12. How many races has Hamilton fought and won the race? US ’07, Monaco ’08, Germany ’08, Turkey ’10, Canada ’10, China ’11, Germany ’11, Canada ’12, Hungary ’12 and US ’12. I rest my case.

1. The STR3 was very solid car, which explains Vettelâ€™s fourth place in Shanghai, but also explains why Bourdais showed flashes of pace. Its nothing to do with with fact that it was â€śa Newey carâ€ť, it was just a good package, and could be mentioned in the same sentence as the Renault R28, or mentioned in the same sentence as the McLaren MP4-23 in the wet.

You’re overrating the STRs there. STR and Red Bull weren’t particularly good in 2008, clearly only capable of being 6th/7th fastest over the course of the season. The MP4-23 was always fastest or 2nd fastest, and the R28 fourth (maybe even 3rd near the end of the season, when Piquet had good pace, and BMW switched toward 2009).

3. Before the German Grand Prix this year, Webber had more wins, more points and had beaten Vettel in qualifying in 5/9 races.Thatâ€™s pretty fundamental for me.

More wins and points because of Vettel’s alternator and Narain Karthikeyan respectively. Otherwise, Vettel was almost always faster, and the fact htat Webber was only ahead in races he won, suggests that Vettel was better when the car wasn’t that good.

No it wasn’t. In normal conditions it was the 6th fastest car at best. The McLaren, Ferrari, Renault, BMW and Red Bull were all quicker in outright pace. In the wet it was indeed a better car but then the difference was still made by Vettel who outqualified Bourdais by almost a second in Monza and who drove past Bourdais in Spa while battling Kubica on slicks making Bourdais look like he was standing still.

Also the MP4-24 was very track specific

As was the RB5 and the Brawn GP. The difference however between all three cars is that the Brawn GP was the only car to enjoy a clear advantage over the rest for half a dozen consecutive races. Which was one third of the entire season.

Before the German Grand Prix this year, Webber had more wins, more points and had beaten Vettel in qualifying in 5/9 races.Thatâ€™s pretty fundamental for me.

Webber had one more win which would have been equal if not for Vettel’s alternator trouble. That’s also the reason Webber had more points. Vettel outraced Webber in 6 of those 9 races and when Vettel won he absolutely dominated Webber. When Webber won however Vettel wasn’t far behind.
Also, you say Hamilton is of legendary status. But he has been outraced by his teammate more than Alonso and Vettel combined. Sorry, I fail to see your ‘logic’.

What I was illustrating with that statistic is that Vettel seldom has to fight for his wins.

That’s his strength and also shows why many consider him to be (already) greater than Hamilton. It can’t be Vettel’s fault that nobody can touch him once he exits the first corner in first. Also, Hamilton has had plenty of races where he should have done what Vettel has managed to do so many times. The fact that Hamilton hasn’t been able to do that is very telling to me.

At the end of the day this is just a ranking put forward by an F1 Fan. Many will agree with it, many will not. What matters is what is achieved though. In the past four years Hamilton has finished fourth or lower. And that’s not just because his car wasn’t up to the challenge.

Just to make a statement: I think most people who agree with his ranking, will mostly also agree that Vettel’s 2012 campaign was one of the best in recent years. There are only a handfull of drivers who drove better the last 5 years or so. Unfortunaly, he met some of those this year. Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton all 3 drove really superb. That also means though you will have to judge them on the smallest mistakes. In that aspect it is Vettel who felt short, so in the end his ranking is fair. Harsh, but fair. I have to add that if you put those 3 in any order, you are never far away from the truth. Very little to choose between indeed.

I was thinking the same. Just 2 years ago they all fought for the championship, but the way they drove that year was ridiculous compared to this year. They all had more then few off moments.
Any version of this three from 2012, driving in 2010 against older versions would have been champ easily.
Shows you just how much they progressed in just 2 years and the quality of top drivers this days.

I remember in 2006, after Schumacher crashed out of Australia, he said that every driver has to make one such a mistake a year, and that when Alonso does it, he will catch him.
Little did he know, that Alonso’s mistake never came. The worst Alonso did was perhaps his 5th place in Indianapolis. That year I became a diehard Alonso fan, even though I was huge Kimi fan year before and wishing all the misfortune on Alonso in 2005. :)
Kimi on the other hand got my respect with his 2003 drives and I so hope that guy comes back. One of the best, definitely. That’s the guy who could mix it with the top 3 of today.

Yes, I’m totally with you on this – excellent comment. It was a great season in terms of standard of driving, especially when compared to 2010 as brace mentions. In all honesty, Vettel Alonso and Hamilton could all be tied in 1st place it’s so close, but if I had to choose which one to put in 3rd I would put Vettel there. Alonso and Hamilton didn’t drive into other drivers (as Vettel did to Senna at Brazil) as far as I can remember.

Vettel didn’t achieve much in the early part of the season, when he didn’t have a dominant car. That says it all really, Alonso did.

That he could gain many places, when out of position due to penalties or incidents, is surely only what we’d expect of a top driver (that he clearly is) in one of the best 4 cars on track, and is not proof that he can deal with pressure – which for me is fighting and beating rivals in similar cars. He didn’t beat Webber by a lot despite being number 1, clearly had a better car than Alonso, and only beat Hamilton thanks to the latter’s ridiculous misfortune and mismanagement.

I agree, one second place in Australia splitting the faster McLarens, one potential fourth (and maybe even a third place as he was catching Hamilton) in Malaysia, victory and a championship lead in Bahrein some 40 seconds ahead of his much better team mate…

If you think about it, it’s unbelievable that Vettel got back from such a poor start to the season… But that’s Adrian Newey for ya.

He didnâ€™t beat Webber by a lot despite being number 1

So true, just a measily 102 points… If he had outscored Webber by 200+ points maybe he would have impressed me. Still, even if he had we all know that’s only down to Red Bull favoring Vettel and Webber getting a dead Kangaroo stuffed in the car every race.

I didnt say he was better than Webber, I said it was relatively close (12/8 is close in my book even if Vettel’s victories and Webber’s more frequent misfortune make the points gap, as you point out, significant.), and as a number 1 driver he has a clear advantage, even if Red Bull handle it more diplomatically than to stuff a kangaroo into Webber’s monocoque. He’s a tall guy there isnt space. Or remove a gearbox seal.

I was arguing that he was not as good a driver as Alonso or Hamilton, and indeed his success in those 4 was helped by the misfortune of who else but Hamilton.

As for Alonso, most agree that his Ferrari at that time was slower, so admitting I phrased my point clumsily, it stands.

Vettel clearly had a great season, I just think Alonso and Hamilton were better. Sorry.

Here you must Compare his Age and F1 Experience I don’t think neither Alonso nor Hamilton was as Matured as Vettel was in 25 Do they??
Vettel was Just getting Better and Better. Webber out scored Vettel in First 10 races but remember Vettel has 2 Zero Point Finshes Compared to webber in Spain.
Vettel was equal to Lewis and Alonso Just edges the both in Experience.

Vettel may have been a bit slower at the start of the season but he was fast when it mattered the most. On the other hand Alonso was the one that failed under pressure at the end of the season when he was slower than Massa. It would’ve been interesting to see what Massa could’ve achieved if Alonso was not slowing him down in the last couple of races. At the moments when Vettel was leading the championship he was still risking his wins chasing the fastest laps despite the calls from the pit wall to slow down. For me that is a racer. On the other hand at the last race, with nothing to lose, Alonso still didn’t have the balls to take more risks and try to win the race. Instead he chose to play it safe and wait for others to make mistakes.

Absolute rubbish….. I really enjoy this website but i have to disagree with this one I’m afraid (I have agreed with the others especially the Hulk coming 5th). Vettel needs to be second or 1st. Simply because Hamilton was excellent, and yes he got the most out of the car and didn’t make mistakes, but so have a lot of other drivers in slower cars. All I need to say is, if Hamilton had vettels season this year with all the wins, poles, overtaking and drama (even in one of the fastest cars) he would have unquestionably been hailed the greatest F1 driver ever by all the British press! Therefore why cant Vettel receive this praise….

You can disagree without having to say this is absolute rubbish. I disagree with the ranking too, but the fact is the top 3/4 drivers were all good and could reasonably have been ordered in any way. I would rank them differently and put Vettel higher too but I think Keith has done a good job of explaining his personal rankings and given the slim margins I don’t think that’s at all unreasonable or surprising.

Too much argument about who is the best… I admire the fact that Vettel make his victories or other achievements look “easy made”.He is great,taking the results he wants,exactly when he wants them by taking out the best of a really good car…and he never make to much noice about himself like “l am a great driver but the car was awful”…l am not Vettel s fun but he is the champion.

always a lot of excuses for hamilton, poor hamilton suffered a failure, his team let him down.
it’s called racing people, it happens to all drivers.
to reduce what a driver has achieved by winning a wdc to simply who designed the car belittles the efforts of many in a team and particularly the driver. All great F1 drivers have benefited from car design in the past and will continue to be the case in the future. Button 2009, and a certain championship in 2008 springs to mind, along with schuey, mansell, senna, prost and alonso, stewart, clark. Does it make what they achieved any less significant. the answer is simply no.
for me, alonso was the best driver in the field, vettel was able to mix it with him, kimi was great first year back and I looked forward to them all again hitting the track in 2013

whom then determines equal degree in motor racing. to me, that then becomes based on a person’s opinion, biased or otherwise about what the result might or could have been. we don’t operate in such a world. results are results based on what happens on the track. It may appear overly simple, but it is what it is.
of course I’ve mentioned the ‘b’ word. I’m not suggesting a biased, I appreciate your efforts greatly for the comprehensive articles and information you gather for people like me.

I think this was his best year, like Alonso’s was. He delivered when he had to and while you won’t catch me complaining about anyone dominating a race or season, it was nice to see another side to him where he was forced to battle for position. He really, really stood out in Spa for me and I think his performance there was a highlight of the season. Recovering like he did in Abu Dhabi and Brazil is the sort of thing that you would look back at in 20 years and hold in such a high regard as you would any other nail biting race.